Government opens Sangre Grande-Cumuto highway

Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan says the newly-opened Elmina Clarke-Allen Highway which connects Sangre Grande to Cumuto will benefit many communities on Trinidad’s eastern seaboard.

He made the comment while speaking at the opening of the highway on April 24.

The highway is named after a former Minister in the Ministry of Housing and Toco Manzanilla MP who served in government between 1976 and 1986.

Clarke-Allen was also a community activist in Sangre Grande. Her family, who have maintained strong links in the community, were present for the opening and were given a symbolic replica of the highway sign.

Sinanan, who also grew up in Sangre Grande, said he felt the onus was on him to ensure the highway, which had been talked about for decades, was finally completed.

He said the journey was not an easy one, but given his links to the community, he believed it was something he had to get done.

“There was a conversation way back in the 1960s, when the train system was stopped, to have that highway extended from Port of Spain all the way to Sangre Grande.

“A lot of people thought it was impossible and it could never happen. But I thought, if I consider myself to be a son of the soil coming out of Sangre Grande as the Minister of Works, and I can't make it happen, it will never happen.”

He said the highway would have a profound effect on the communities it served and was in line with the PNM’s Vision 2030 manifesto.

“The eastern seaboard was the poorest part of this country, with the most unemployment… But the Cabinet decided if we upgrade the infrastructure, naturally businessmen will invest and the community will benefit.

“Since we started this project, property prices have almost doubled. Also, you have now malls being constructed in Sangre Grande. I understand there are three more malls coming in Sangre Grande, because this (highway) allows easy access in and out.”

Sangre Grande chamber of commerce president Elvin Cudjoe told Newsday the community was the gateway to the East and the highway meant a lot for the area.

He explained people coming into Sangre Grande could spend up to an hour in traffic because of a bottleneck in the vicinity of Xtra Foods.

He added before the highway, the only option to bypass the traffic was a longer route using back roads in Wallerfield and Cumuto.

“So before, you had a choice of a longer route with a slightly shorter time or a shorter route with traffic and longer time. Now the highway alleviates that.

“It is going to be easier for businessmen in construction, (those) with a grocery or a tuck shop. It’s faster to get goods.”

He said the project had reinvigorated the community.

“We have the construction of a simple thing as a gas station. There is one being constructed at the end of this highway and another one in main Sangre Grande.

“So what you have is a reinvigoration of entrepreneurial spirit and the driving force of business in the east. You’re seeing that coming back to life and the highway is one of the reasons.”

Sinanan: Project was almost halted

Sinanan revealed work on the project was almost halted a month ago.

“A month ago we had called the project off. We said after election we will continue. It was a no go.”

He added the contractors, though, were able to work with stakeholders to ensure the work was completed.

Sinanan explained the project faced many challenges including environmental protests and lawsuits.

“It started with some groups who felt that the government should not do anything because they would look good. That mushroomed into NGOs who were supposed to be representing fishermen. All of a sudden, they decided to represent the animals in the Aripo Savannah and shut down the highway (construction).”

He said he was also forced to defend the decision in Parliament.

“I was bombarded in the Parliament with question after question about why we are building a highway to nowhere.

“I had to constantly keep telling them, Sangre Grande, the eastern seaboard is somewhere, and we do have real people living up there.”

He said construction was delayed for years as, although the government won the initial lawsuit, the matter went all the way to the Privy Council where the government won again and construction could continue.

Sinanan said, though, those who opposed the project were not from the area.

“The lawyers that represented the people who did not want this highway were Anand Ramlogan, and Jayanti Lutchmedial.

“They were representing a group with no members from this area. So, the people in this area wanted it. But people who are not from this area decided that it must not happen.”

Young: Lessons to learn from highway project

With just days to go until the April 28 general election, the event was almost transformed in to a political rally as hundreds of PNM supporters dressed in red, PNM-branded jerseys descended on the site of the opening.

Music trucks blared the campaign song for PNM's Toco Sangre Grande candidate Roger Monroe while chants of "Great is the PNM" and “Stuarty, Stuarty, Stuarty” could be heard as Prime Minister Stuart Young delivered the feature address.

Young noted the election was days away and boasted that after almost ten years in power, there were no serious corruption scandals engulfing the government.

He compared the PNM’s tenure to the UNC and reminded the public of the PNM’s ability to complete, at a lower cost, the projects started under the UNC.

He said these should be lessons the public should take note of.

‘To stand here, one working day before the general election and to say that unlike what we saw between 2010 and 2015, there are no serious allegations of corruption plaguing this government of the last ten years.

He claimed the government, days before the 2015 election, made changes to the contract for the construction of the Point Fortin Highway that almost cost the citizenry near to $1 billion.

“They waited until the last day before an election, to remove a clause that almost allowed that contractor to abscond with over $900 million due to the people of TT. That is the difference in the delivery.

“Today we stand here with one working day left and we deliver to you a state-of-the-art highway that is immediately going to uplift this part of Trinidad without any allegations of corruption.”